Refrigerator car



sept. 10 1940; R. a. mmm

REFRIGERATOR CAR Filed July 31, v19.','1 2 shuts-sheet 1 Sept. 10, 1940.n. B. wlNsHlP 2,214,544

REFRIGERATOR CAR Filed July 31. 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q' ioooooo n Y 0 lO I ooo ooo; Ooo 000| 00er OOO] @90| ooo Puentes sept. To', 1940- PATENTOFFICE 2,214,544, BEFBIGERATOB. CAB Ralph B. Winship, Montreal, Quebec,Canada, as-

assignmen signor, by mesne ta, to Standard Railway Refrigerator Company,a corporation of Delaware application .my s1, 19st, sen-ln No. 156,659

1s claims. (ci. sla-17) The invention relates to refrigeratorcars forcirculating refrlgerating air-may move below'A o or aroundand alsothrough the container and be cooled by the refrigerant, thus causing theair 'to circulate by convection. through iiues and channels provided forthe purpose. Refrigerantf containers, such as the usual 'brine tank, arenow 5 made with solid bottoms, tops and side walls so that thecirculating air moves outside thereof and in contact therewith, but notindirect contaci; with the refrigerant. By allowing the circulating airto directly engage the refrigerant the heat transfer from the air tolthe refrigerv ant is greatly increased and the temperature of thecirculating air is lowered. and the convection movement of the air isaugmented, thus in. ycreasing the eihciency of the refrigerating system.

. Another object is to provide an insulated partitionv or pan to catchthe liquid refrigerant which splashes through the air circulatingapertures in the tank and drains it intovertlcal lo air circulating nuesin-the wall of the eau-from whence it is drained outside of the car, butwhich in the meantime further cools the -air in `thevertical flue. .v

Another object is to position the air circulat- |5 ing apertures in therefrigerant tank so that the ventilating air entering the roof hatchwaymay move through as well as around the refrigerant Another object of theinvention is to provid i Another object is to provide a metallic meatrack carline of great strength for its weight, and vfurthertoprovidezueanstocarryoifmoistureor is condensation so that it will not come inwith the meat nor floor of the car, and a further obiect is to form thelast mentioned means sothat it will support the meat. rack carline uponthe -wall of the car.

Inthe drawings:` 5

Fig. 1 shows a half .-cross section of an upper part of a railway carlhaving my improvement and is taken on linevI-I'of Fig. 3.

Fig. 2 shows a section through the vertical wall of the railway'car online 2-2 of Fig. 1. 10

' Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal section of the railway car on line 3--3 ofFig. 1.

The drawings illustrate my invention adopted for use in what is known asthe top bunker refrigerator car; that is, wherein the refrigerantchambers or tanks 2 are positioned adjacent to j the roof 3 of rthe carand provided with hatchways 4 for loading the chambers with a refrigtheinsulation to protect the insulation from molsture,and to assist inresisting the tendency of the car to weave due to the motion thereof.

The roof shown comprises metallic sheets l0 ex tending from eave I1 toeave Il of the car'and overlapping the side plates Il and preferablysethe cap 22 and flanges 2| together. The roof 40v sheet It is cut outat the hatchways and provided with an upstanding flange 24 adjacent thehatch insulation 2l.y The hatchway shield 20 extends upwardly inside ofthe hatch insulation 24 to protect the insulation. A cap 2l covers the45 hatch insulation 2 5, shield '20 and roof flange 24. The refrigerantchamber 2 is provided with an inclined upwardly proiecting flange 3laround the refrigerant feeding opening whic underlies the hatch shield2l. l 50 A preferably downwardly and outwardly sloping partition orceiling 33 is positioned below -each row or series of refrigerantchambers l and spaced therefrom so as to provide a downwardly inclinediiue 34 below the refrigerant chambers. 5'5

' channel 36 with the tops 38 of these walls positioned above the lowerpart 39 of the chambers. This downwardly inclined iiue 34 communicateswith the vertically extending flue 40 in or adjacent to the side wall ofthe car, which flue 40, in the form illustrated, is between the sidewall partition 4I and the side wall itself 42. Each side of the sidewall flue 40 is preferably lined with a preferably galvanized thinmetallic sheet 43-44 to retain the moisture within the flue.

and also each side of this side wall flue may be lined with a layer ofSisalkraft paper 45-46 or some other light insulating material toprevent leakage of heat.

Any convenient floor rack may be used to provide a space between thelading and the floor of the car, which space communicates with the sidewall flues 40.

In such a refrigerator car the refrigerant in the chambers 2 cools theair surrounding them Aso that, due to the increased weight and density,the air moves down the downwardly and outwardly inclined ceilings 33(that is, in the fiues 34 between the ceiling 33 and the refrigerantchamber 2) into the side wall vertical iiues 40, and thence into thespace between the floor rock and the iioor of the car, and then upwardlythrough openings in the iioor rack and between or through the lading,and being warmed thereby, rises and passes through the air channel 36between the sloping ceilings 33 and thence around the refrigerantchamber 2, and being cooled thereby, `repeats the. cycle. heating of theairis continuously repeated. A further desirable feature of suchconstruction is that the side wall ues 40 provlde a blanket of cooledair around the lading and the water on the iioor of the car also keepsthe fioor cold. Ice, salted ice, brine, dry ice or any of the usualrefrigerants may be used in such a system. The

arrows indicate the air movement. 1

My improved refrigerant container or tank 2 is provided with a solid orimperforate bottom 45 and the lower parts 46 of the side walls thereofare also solid or imperforate, while the upper parts 41 of some or allof the side walls areA perforated or provided with apertures Ell- 5Iwhereby the circulating air may come in direct contact with therefrigerant so as toincrease the capacity of the device for cooling thecirculating air. 'I'he lower parts l46 of the side walls .ofthecontainers are solid'soas to retain the brine within the tank 'so as'to obtain the maximum heat absorbing capacity therefrom. y'I'hisadvantage would also be obtained from the vmelted vice when a solid ice.is used. Experience snows that e lime brine left m the ear whilethe caris being unloaded keeps the lading cool while being inspected andunloaded. When desired the brine or melted ice may beirun `into thevertical iiues 40 through the drain '43 which y is controlled bythedrain valve handle 49.

The beam or carline 60 extends between and is secured to the oppositewalls 42 of the car and comprises an arched or apexed compression member6| consisting of a web 62 and depending flanges 63 and an arched orapexed tubular section tension member 65 preferably made of Such coolingand ports (the spacers 68 between the tank and the l ceiling arepositioned over these beams or carlines). These beams 60 also hold thesidewalls in their proper relative position by preventing them fromcoming together or separating. They also support the roof of the` car.

'I'he struts '6 6 and compression members 8| form recesses 69 for thereception of the meat hooks 10 which support the carcasses of animals.'I'he struts 66 are positioned so that the carcasses will be spacedapart to allow circulation of air between.

The carlines 60 are supported by the angular members 13 extendinglengthwise of the car which, in turn, are supported by verticallydisposed posts 14 .in the'side wall flue 40. Condensed moisture, whichforms on the metallic beams, runs downwardly and is caught withinthegutter formed by the upwardly inclined arm' 16 and the vertical arm11 of the angular member 13. The water is drained into the side wallflue 40' through apertures 19 in the partition and arm 16.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that Various modifications thereof, within the scope of theclaims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator car` having spaced apart walls, each wallcomprising vertical posts with a partition secured to said posts toprovide vertical ues between the posts, each wall provided witha'horizontally disposed member secured to 4( a plurality of said postsand provided with an upwardly inclined arm, an arched metallic beamAextending between and secured to the members on the opposite wallswhich rests upon and is secured to said upwardly inclined arms, aper- 4ltures in said partitions substantially flush with the upper surfaces `ofthe arms which commui nicate with the vertical ues whereby condensedmoisture on said metallic beam follows the beam to the upwardly inclinedarm and flows through 54 said apertures into said vertical flues.

2. In a refrigerator car having spaced apart Ywalls, each wallcomprising vertical posts with a partition secured to said posts toprovide ver' tical nues between the posts, each wall provided 5 providedwith an upwardly inclined arm posil tioned below the end of saidmetallic beam to catch the moisture of condensation, and means to drainsaid moisture into said iiues.

3. In a refrigerator c`ar, the combination of fa roof, spaced apartwalls each provided with 6 a vertical flue, a refrigerant containeradjacent said roof, and adjacent one of said walls, a ceiling below saidcontainer, spacers supporting the container upon said ceiling and inspaced relation thereto to provide a flue therebetweenv which lcommunicates with the adjacent side wall iiue, and a beam beloweachspacer and parallel .therewith, which beam extends between and is supjported by said spaced apart walls. a tube slightly iiattened with thetension and 4. In a refrigerator car, the combination of 1 l a verticala verticai iiue associated with sol said wall, a refrigerant containeradjacent said wall, and an insulated partition below said container andspaced therefrom to provide a substantlally horizontal ue communicatingwith said vertical ilue so that the air in vsaid horizontal ilue, beingcooled by a refrigerant in said container,y induces a circulation of airthrough said ues, the bottom and lower parts of the sides of saidrefrigerant container being solid with the upper parts of certain ofsaid'sides provided with apertures, whereby aliquid refrigerant in saidcontainerxwill spill over said solid parts and pass through saidhorizontal and vertical ues thereby further cooling air circulating insaid ues.

5. In a irefrigerator car, the combination of a vertical wall, averticalue associated with said wallLa refrigerant container adjacent said wallat a higher elevation than said ue and a partition below said containerand spaced therefrom to provide a substantially horizontal nuecommunicating with said vertical flue so that the ain in-said horizontalue being cooled by a refrigerant in said container induces a circulationof air through saidvues, the bottom and lower parts of the sides of saidrefrigerant container `being solid with the upper part of one of saidsides provided' with an aperture, whereby a liquid refrigerant in saidcontainer will spill through said aperture and v pass through saidvertical flue thereby further cooling air circulating in said verticalue.

6. In a refrigerator car having a refrigerant container above the ladingcompartment, a vertical ilue associated with a vertical `wal1 of saidcar, and-a partition below said container and spaced therefrom toprovide a substantially horizontal flue communicating with said verticalnue so that the air in said horizontal flue being cooled by arefrigerant in said container induces a circulation 'of air through saidfiues.-V the bottom and lower parts of the sides of said refrigerantcontainer being solid with the upper part of one of said sides providedwith an apert whereby a liquid refrigerant in said container-'will spillthrough said aperture and pass through said vertical iiue therebyfurther cooling air circulating in said vertical iiue, means to' drain aliquid refrigerant from said container tosaid vertical flue, andaclosure for said means operable from within said lading compartment..

'7. In a refrigerator car. the combination of a roof, spaced apartwalls, a vertical nue associated with one of said walls, a refrigerantcontainer adjacent said roof, a ceiling spaced below I which forms onsaid metallic c arline into said said' container to provideasubstantially horizontal flue therebetween communicating with thevertical nue, a-metallic carline supporting said ceiling whichextendsbetween andvis secured to said walls,'and means to draincondensate vertical flue. A l L 8. In a refrigerator car having a'refrigerant container above the lading compartment, a vertical ueassociated with a vertical wall of said car, and a partition below saidAcontainer and spaced therefrom to provide a substantially horizontalnue" communicating with said vertical flue so that the air in saidhorizontal flue being cooledbyarefrlgerantinsaidcontainerinducesacirdownwardly toward said verticalwall so that when part of the liqu'id refrigerant spills into thehorizontal flue the remaining refrigerant will be adjacent the verticalflue, and means to drain the refrigerant from the container into saidvertical ue.

11. A structure as dened in claim 4 wherein thelower parts of saidapertures are on a substantially horizontal line. l

12. A structure as defined in claim 4 wherein the side of said containeradjacent said car wall is provided with apertures so that some of saidliquid refrigerant willl spill directly into lsaid vertical flue. 4

13. In a refrigerator car, the combination of Y a 'vertical wall, avertical flue associated with said wall, a refrigerant container withone side thereof adjacent said nue, and an insulated partition belowsaid container and spaced therefrom to provide a substantiallyhorizontal ilue communicating 'with the vertical flue so that air in thehorizontall flue being cooled by a refrigerant in said container.induces a circulation of through said flues, the bottom and lower partsof the sides of said container being imperforate I with the upper partsof the side of the container associated with one cisne walls. arefrigerant w container adjacent said roof, a ceiling below saidcontainer, spacers supporting the` container upon said ceilingand inspaced relationthereto` to provide a ilue therebetween whichcommunicates with said nue, and beams below said spacers 55 and paralleltherewith', said beams extending between and su'pportedby said walls..15;'In a refrigerator car. the combinationof a vertical wall,v avertical ue associated with said wallra refrigerant container adjacentsaid jwall at a higher elevation than said due. and means to directcirculating -air into substantial contact with said container and thenceinto said flue thereby cooling said air and inducing a downward flow .ofair through said ilue,'said 65 containerbeing formed to retain liquidrefrigerant in the lower part thereof and to overiiow l some of saidliquid refrigerant from said container into said ilue during servicemovements of the car thereby further cooling said air. ,o

narran...

